Description:
18 -22" A large, long-winged hawk with longer
more pointed wings than most hawks, soars with wings in
shallow V, even brown upperparts, white below with
warm-brown breast, tail banded and brown

Habitat:
Plains, prairies, arid regions. Nests in shrubs and trees near wetlands and drainage ditches or in windbreaks in fields. Often seen perching on fence posts and telephone poles along the road. Quite tame.

Nesting:
2 or 4 white eggs unmarked or light brown spots, on a
large clump of dead foliage and sticks in an isolated tree

Range:
breeds from Alaska across western US south to Mexico,
winters chiefly in tropics but also in Florida

Voice: long, drawn out plaintive
whistle, kreee

Diet:
mostly small vertebrates, snakes, voles, insects,
birds

Notes:
Huge flocks in migration soar to tremendous heights on thermals of warm air, then glide down for great distances to next
thermal, gregarious

When
present in Oklahoma: abundant throughout state during
summer months, sparse in winter